For five years now,
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zwedenhas been working steadily to build the Dallas Symphony (DSO) into a world-class orchestra. Critical reaction in Dallas has been consistently glowing
and when conductor and orchestra were featured at the League of American
Orchestras Conference in Dallas last year, the reaction from the ‘movers and
shakers’ in the industry was ecstatic.

Now comes the biggest
test of all. In a few weeks, the DSO will embark on its first European tour
with van Zweden on the podium. Vienna, Amsterdam, Munich and Hamburg
will weigh in on what van Zweden has achieved. In preparation, the Dallas
Symphony is honing its two tour programs on home turf; based on what I heard
last week, there is reason for great optimism.

The first of the tour
programs is devoted to music by Wagner and Richard Strauss, with an added dash
of American content, in the form of Steven Stucky’s (photo: above right) eight-minute Elegy. In the Dallas concerts, Anton Nel
was featured in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. In Europe, the Beethoven will
be replaced by Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn as soloist. Later
this week, the DSO will test drive its other tour program, which features Mahler’s
Symphony No. 6.

DSO/van Zweden Wagner Glows from
Within!

The music of Richard Wagneris part of Jaap van Zweden’s core repertoire. In Holland, he has already
made complete recordings of Lohengrin,
Die Meistersinger and Parsifal, each of them impressive for
its command of structure and flow, and for a rare ability to balance complex
textures. These characteristics were evident again last week in the Dallas
Symphony performance of Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod. Van Zweden’s tempi in this piece were a little fast for my
taste, but there was no denying the quality of the playing or the authority of
the conducting.

From the opening bars
of the Prelude, van Zweden made clear
that this was music of great intimacy. The crescendi in the cellos were not
overdone, and led inexorably, initially to the first strong accent heard only
in the cellos (third phrase, bar 10), and then to the full-throated fortissimo
(bar 17). All this structural context was beautifully illuminated by van Zweden,
with extraordinarily refined playing from his cello section. As for the tempo:
in these 15 bars, there are numerous rests and pauses between phrases. It does make
excellent musical sense not to exaggerate these silences. While I agree that if
the conductor takes too slow a tempo here, the arc of those 15 bars can be
completely lost, I nevertheless believe that it could be preserved with a
slightly more relaxed tempo than that taken by van Zweden.

That said, this
Wagner glowed from within, from those yearning opening cello phrases to the
final resolution of love and death at the end of the Liebestod. Van Zweden reminded us that this is not a Götterdämmerung-category
climax, but something more human and profound. For all the passionate seething
in the music, the final climax, while rich and all consuming, is restrained.
The dynamic marking in the score is forte - not fortissimo - and certainly not
fff.

There are no cheap
effects in this music; van Zweden made sure his musicians understood that and they
gave him a deeply felt, perfectly balanced climax. This was sublime music making.

Stylish Rendering of Early Beethoven

The piano soloist on
this evening’s program was Anton Nel(photo: right), an artist well known to those of us who
spend a lot of time in Austin, Texas. Nel heads the piano faculty at the Butler
School of Music and is known to be masterly in a vast repertoire. He plays
frequently in Austin, where he was recently featured in the regional premiere at
the Zach Theatre, of 33 Variations, a
play which makes extensive use of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

Nel and van Zweden
were remarkably attuned to each other in this performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with transitions and dynamics perfectly dove-tailed. Van Zweden
and the DSO recently concentrated on compositions by Mozart for a two-week
festival and this work paid off in this performance of the piano concerto, an early
Beethoven piece.

Under van Zweden’s
direction, the strings of the Dallas Symphony demonstrated how adept they have
become at switching from late-Romantic Wagner to Classical Period Mozart and
Beethoven. It is a completely different world of bowing, dynamics and
articulation and few modern orchestras can do it convincingly. Anton Nel played
beautifully throughout and his control of dynamics in the slow movement was
outstanding.

One of Our Own: The Right Choice Better
than None at All

After intermission
came Stucky’s Elegy (from August 4, 1964), the one American work
the DSO is taking to Europe, raising the question: “Shouldn’t American music be
better represented on a foreign tour than with an eight-minute piece?”
Absolutely. But then, Washington’s National Symphony recently went off to
Europe without a single American work
in its repertoire; inexcusable for the resident orchestra of the Kennedy Center
in the nation’s capital.

In defense of the
Dallas Symphony, I will point out that van Zweden and the DSO gave the world
premiere of Stucky’s August 4, 1964
in September, 2008, and took it to Carnegie Hall in 2011. Around the same time,
they recorded the piece; in other words, they are hugely invested in this
full-length concert drama, and this exciting eight-minute highlight is better
than nothing, considering that European promoters find major contemporary works
a tough sell in programs by touring orchestras.

In spite of its
brevity, Stucky’s Elegy is a powerful
and compelling piece, with some vivid contrasts between solo strings and
mournful brass. Van Zweden and the DSO gave it a stunning presentation.
European listeners exposed to this excerpt from the piece, may well be inspired
to check out the complete work.

Dallas Symphony Truly in Top Form for
European Tour

The concert finished
with the performance of a suite from Richard Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier. Several suites from
the opera, which are played more often, give us little more than a taste of the
merry waltz music. This suite, possibly put together by the young Leonard Bernstein,
is more ambitious. Starting with the exuberant opening bars of the opera, it goes
on to the Presentation of the Rose, then gives us much of the glorious final
trio and duet, ending with the waltz music in all its unfettered high spirits.
This suite has a wide range of moods and dynamics and represents a considerable
challenge for a virtuoso orchestra.

No problem for the
rejuvenated Dallas Symphony. One marveled both at the quality of the solo
playing and the tightly unified ensemble playing. Van Zweden has made upgrading
the strings a top priority and it shows. Few orchestras anywhere today can
boast of so many topnotch musicians in its ranks. The two concertmasters, Alexander Kerr and Nathan Olson, both of whom contributed very distinguished solo playing
to the Strauss performance, were backed up by equally fine players -Gary Levinson
and Emmanuelle Boisvert (former concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony) – behind
them at the second stand.

The horn section is
also one of the glories of the “new” Dallas Symphony. The orchestra is actively looking for a principal to replace Gregory Hustis
and is trying out candidates from other orchestras. In this concert, DSO
Associate Principal David Heyde led the section in the Wagner and third horn
David Cooper was the principal for the Strauss. Both were excellent, although
Cooper had more to do and did it with exceptional confidence and phrasing. The
entire section played with electrifying power and bravura.

Notably absent from
this concert was another outstanding young principal player. Principal trumpet
Ryan Anthony has been forced to withdraw temporarily due to illness. Let us
hope this wonderful musician will soon return to take his rightful place in the
orchestra. At last week’s concert and on the tour, his replacement isManny Laureano, principal trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra.

I’ll return to Dallas
later this week to report on the orchestra’s other tour program featuring Mahler’s
Symphony No. 6.

Monday, 25 February 2013

ROCK OF AGES Rolls into Montreal

By Naomi Gold

Photo by Scott Suchman

Rock of Ages the jukebox musical, will wallop Montreal's winter blahs with its eight-show run at Théâtre St-Denis next week. Produced by Evenko and Broadway Across Canada, the play premieres on Tuesday, February 26, and features weekend matinee performances on March 2nd and 3rd.

Audience participation is de rigueur, and all attendees are urged to bring their air guitars. After all, the show set a Guinness world record for 'Largest Air Guitar Ensemble' which comprised 810 people (including audience/fans and cast).

This Week in Toronto (Feb. 25 - Mar. 3)

The big news in classical music this week is the appearance of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Franz Welser-Moest at the Roy Thomson Hall for a single performance Feb. 27 8 pm. Vienna Philharmonic is of course one of the most fabled of orchestras in the world and its visit is a highlight of the Toronto music season. On the program is Schubert Symphony No. 6 and Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel. This is a concert not to be missed. http://www.roythomson.com/eventdetail/1253

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Conductor Peter Oundjian

Saturday March 2nd (7:30 pm at Roy Thomson Hall) marks the start of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's annual New Creations Festival, a series celebrating new music. While it's probably true that classical music lovers are a conservative lot as a whole, more and more of them are embracing contemporary works, and the New Creations Series is attracting an ever-increasing number of devoted and discerning audience members. The festival kicks off with an eclectic program consisting of Tod Machover's Jeux Deux, combining orchestra with disklavier and video projections; Mason Bates' Alternative Energy, and Arcadiac by Nicole Lizee, this last piece pays homage to "vintage images from arcade games of the 1970s and 80s." Each performance has pre and post-concert events scheduled with informative presentations about the new works. TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian conducts. Details at http://tso.ca/Home.aspx

At only 17 and still a student at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Canada's Jan Lisiecki is already on top of the piano world, playing at important venues and with a high profile DG contract under his belt. I recently interviewed Lisiecki when he was in town to record his new CD, for an article that will come out in conjunction with the release of the disc in the fall. I was impressed by not only his marvelous pianism but also his maturity which is far beyond his years. On Sunday Mar. 3 3 pm, Lisiecki will give us a preview of his upcoming CD, a program of Chopin Etudes Op. 10 and 25. This is an extremely popular event and will likely sell out quickly.

http://performance.rcmusic.ca/event/jan-lisiecki

The Faure Quartett

On Thursday Feb. 28 at 8 pm, Music Toronto is presenting The Faure Quartett, an ensemble from Karlsruhe with pianist Dirk Mommertz, violinist Erika Geldsetzer, violist Sascha Froembling and cellist Konstantin Heidrich. On the program is Richard Strauss's Piano Quartet in C Minor Op. 13 and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, arranged for piano quartet. Concert is at MT's usual venue, Jane Mallett Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre.

http://music-toronto.com/index.html

The Amici Chamber Ensemble is celebrating its 25th anniversary in a concert originally scheduled last November. In Le Bal Masque, clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas and pianist Serouj Kradjian are joined by many guest artists - soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, violinists Jonathan Crow and Marie Berard, violist Barry Shiffman, bass Jeffrey Beecher, and trumpeter Andrew McCandless among them. On the program are works by Beethoven, Chausson, Poulenc and Montsalvatge. http://amiciensemble.com/

Tenor Colin Ainworth sings Janacek at Against the Grain Theatre

Against the Grain Theatre, known for its innovative, cutting edge productions, is presenting a rarely performed double-bill of Janacek's song cycle, Diary of One Who Disappeared and Gyorgy Kurtag's Kafka-Fragments Op. 24. In four decades of attending performances, I've only seen a single live performance of the Janacek and it was a straight concert performance, and I admit I am totally unfamiliar with the Kurtag work. This is a rare opportunity and one not to be missed for the adventurous. The Janacek song cycle is sung in Czech and the principals are tenor Colin Ainsworth and mezzo Lauren Segal, two excellent artists. Others in the cast are sopranos Leslie Bouza and Sarah Halmerson and mezzo Eugenia Dermentzis. The Kurtag piece is sung in German with soprano Jacqueline Woodley accompanied by violinist Kerry DuWors. ATG creative team is Joel Ivany (director), Christopher Mokrzewski (musical direction) and Michael Gianfrancesco (designer). Two performances, Mar. 1 and 2 8 pm at the Extension Room, 30 Eastern Avenue. http://againstthegraintheatre.com/index/Kafka_Kurtag.html
Given that most people would be unfamiliar with the Janacek song cycle, I can highly recommend a documentary on this work narrated/acted/performed by British tenor Ian Bostridge. It is available complete, in 7 segments on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlDutI613FU

Baritone Dion Mazerolle, a frequent guest of Opera York, is Danilo

Opera York, the company from north GTA, is offering Lehar's The Merry Widow this week. It's sung in English, with Quebec baritone Dion Mazerolle as Danilo and Anna Bateman as Hanna. The "second couple" is sung by Alexandra Smithers (Valencienne) and Ryan Harper (Camille). Veteran baritone Douglas Tranquada is Baron Mirko Zeta. Geoffrey Butler is at the helm. Two shows, Feb. 28 and Mar. 2 at the intimate Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts on Yonge north of Major McKenzie - a bit of a trek but worth it! http://www.operayork.com/springseason.html

Finally, for those who need more opera and don't mind the absence of an orchestra, Toronto Opera Repertoire offers fully staged operas performed by a mix of professionals and students. You can catch Tales and Hoffmann and Barber of Seville this week at the Bickford Centre, 777 Bloor Street West near the Christie subway station. Details at http://www.toronto-opera.com/

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La Scena Musicale is a monthly Canadian classical, opera, jazz and world music magazine published in English and French by La Scène musicale/The Music Scene, a non-profit charity dedicated to the promotion of music and the arts. La Scena Musicale's award-winning website SCENA.org has been a world leader of classical music and arts news since 1996. The LSM Blog is the place for commentary and news on music and the arts in Canada and around the world. Publisher: Wah Keung Chan; ISSN 1925-9700